Years, Forms Non Profit

By Hilary Nowatzki

Although most adults are familiar with wine and food pairings such as steak with a dry cabernet or malbec, fish with a pinot grigio or rosé, or chocolate with a moscato, most have never heard of anything like a beer and cookie pairing. That is until the geniuses at Revelation Ale Works in Hallock, Minn., needed some fresh ideas for their 5th year ‘Reviversary’ (pronounce it like you’re revving up a car). Even though this team works in Minnesota, they are only a short 10 miles from the N.D. border.

“Every year around this time we like to throw a big party in the cold; our official 5th anniversary date was Thursday Feb. 24,” explained Ryan Evenson, the owner of Revelation. Well, throwing a ‘big party in the cold’ is exactly what Evenson and his team did, not just on the anniversary date but for five days straight spanning from Tuesday Feb. 22 through Saturday Feb. 26.

“We premiered some of our new craft brews during the festivities such as our Barrel Aged Barleywine, Deviation:03, Atomic Punk DDH New England IPA, and Glacial Drift Cold IPA, for loyal customers and newbies a like to try and provide feedback for us,” states Evenson. Day one of the celebration was customer appreciation night and brought free grilled brats and hot dogs, along with cupcakes for the coincidentally coinciding birthday of employee Lauren Stang.

“Lauren is a vital employee of ours who is cross-trained in everything Revelation does and needs; she also helps keep us all in line!” Evanson said.

Day two brought mega trivia with two rounds going off at 6 p.m. and two more at 8 p.m. with prizes such as gift cards from several local businesses. Day three hosted live acoustic music with Big Mike, bingo, and a pizza plus 2 pints for $20 special.

Day four was Friday and the beginning of the weekend with a massive kickoff for the local girl scout chapter in Hallock. These girls sold the cookies, and Evenson, along with his team, provided the beer and suggested the pairings. Each flight - or five small samples of beer - were served in conjunction with two of each of the scout cookies suggested to compliment and even enhance the other’s flavor.

Here are some of the pairings: Samoas & Barrel Aged Barleywine Trefoil & Atomic Punk NEIPA

Revelation Ale Works cookie pairings. Submitted photo. Tagalongs & Brown Ale Lemon Ups & Strawberry Lemon Sour Toffee Tastic & Purple Ribbon Pilsner.

The day continued with The Barge, a food truck, arriving at 4 p.m. to start serving dinner and the band 100 Proof playing at 7 p.m.

Day five started with a cornhole tournament at noon with beer and cookie pairings being served until the cookies ran out. The Barge served food again as well, and the band, Dead Man’s Hand, rocked out until it was closing time.

“I think everyone had a great time, and I’m very grateful for my customers and team,” stated Evenson upon the completion of the Reviversary, but the story is far from over here.

This is not the first time Evenson has aligned his work at the Brewery with a charity or supported his community. As of the middle of last year, Evenson and Revelation obtained a 501(c)3 named “the RevUP! Foundation” in order to host, participate, and contribute to the needs of their community even more.

“Just a few weeks before our Reviversary, we hosted what I call a ‘guest-tender’ night for our local youth hockey league,” Evenson said. “Guest-tending is when the player’s parents and/ or coaches are bartenders for a portion of the night during which they are able to keep the tips and 10% of sales go back to the team.”

Another recent guest-tending night raised over $800 for the Bio-Girls group out of Drayton, which focuses on building self image and esteem for young women through meeting together, talking, and going on group runs.

Evenson is already planning more guest-tender nights for the near future and is not only expanding his business by creating a nonprofit in conjunction, but as of a year and a half ago, he acquired another building only 100 feet from the brewery. The building was originally a pharmacy, and although it now has a different purpose, it is keeping its name as simply ‘The Pharmacy’.

“We were lucky to have it this year, especially for the cornhole tournament, so we could play indoors,” Evenson said. “We even have a mobile brew station we bring over there for big events.”

The Barge was the main food truck present for this year's Revivation. “Once the weather begins to warm up, we try to host a different food truck every other weekend along with a cribbage league every Tuesday and plenty more guest-tender nights,” Evanson said. He does this with pride because Evenson, through Revelation, Revup Foundation, and a strong team, has a passion for helping other small and local businesses and their community.

Revelation Ale Works, Hallock, Minn. Submitted photo.